Railroad tie



Patenteil Oct. 18,l 1927.

UNITE-nfV lSTATES PAT-ENT; o-FFlcE;

ARTHUR L. ADA, QF REED CITY, MICHIGAN.

nAILnoan Tm. i

This invention relates to a railroad tie and is more particularly concerned with .a -com site tie of steel and concrete. It 1s an o ]ect and purpose of the present inven- 5 tlonvto provide a-tie made of steel and con-4 crete in such `a manner that the concrete supporting portions of the tie are in sections so asl to permit the necessary` flexing of the ,tie under the weight of a trainv passing thereover and the concrete does not'rupture but keeps its form at all times. A tie of this character is durable, lasting almost indefinitely, while the iiexing of the tie permits better construction, and insures that i5 the rolling stock of the railroad is not jarred and damaged as it would be in a completely rigid road bed.

For an understanding of the invention reference may be had to the following 4description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the tie of my invention, rails being. shown as attached thereto.

Fig. 2 is an elevation Lof the tie, parts oi the structure being broken -away and shown in section for better disclosure, and

Fig. 3 is a somewhat enlarged transverse section through the tie.

a0 Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different ligures of the drawing. `In the construction of the tie a metal member orbar, the full length of a tie is used preferably of channel form having a a5 web 1 with the iian es 2 depending therein Figs. 1 and 3. Thebase portions ofthe blocks may be widened as much as isY necessary in order to/povide the required bearsurace.

he blocks are spaced apart short dis- 45 tances at their contiguous ends and are secured to the channel in any suitable manner. I have shown a bolt 5 having a head 6 embedded in each concrete block, the boltl passing upwardly through the web 1 ofthe channel and having a nut7 threaded onto its upper rojecting end.' It is necessar only to ma e a connection of this kind su ficient to hold the blocks in relation to the channel bar until such time as the ties are placed in the road bed.v

i application ma Aprun, 1927., serial 1ro. isaefra" the blocks, 'fillers 8 of elastic material, s uch as asphalt or the like, are placed the same being of material like that used tor expansion joints in building of concrete'roads.

The rails 9 shown in Fig. 1 lie above the yties and in practice the lower iian es of the rails are received in a chair 10. etaining plates 11 `extend from the side portions of the chair over the flanges of the rail, all being tightly secured together by means of bolts 12 which pass upwardly through the web 1 of the channel, through said' chair and the plates 11.

The tie as constructed with the sectional concrete base blocks has suiiicient bearing crete as any opening made by the yielding of the tie will take place at said gaps.l The expansion joint material indicated at 8 is compressible and expansible a limited amount and does not interfere in any way with the requisite yielding of the tie. The construction is simple to produce, the cost is relatively low compared to ties of similar character and the durability of .the same is especially good. Although the structure as described and shown in the drawing provides for spaced apart blocks with elastic filler between them, it is not-essential that the device be so constructed. The blocks may be spaceda short distance apart and no elastic ller provided or the blocks may be Aplaced closel together. yIn either of these structures t e tie will be operative and- Vberpreseit.

It is to be understood that the cross sectional shape of the blocks may be varied from the vrectangular shape shown and desci'bed, for instance the blocks may be widened at the base to provide a greater bearing surface, I

The invention is defined in the appended claim and is to be considered-comprehensive of all forms of structure coming within its scope.

I claim: 4

A railroad tie comprising` a metal bar'extendin the full len th o t-he tie and arrange atthe top t ereof, a plurality of concrete blocks located underneath the said lIO bar and arranged in alignment with their adjacent ends spaced short distances apart, means for securing the blocks and the bar together, and fillers of plastic elastic material located in the spaces between the concrete blocks and being of substantially uni,- form area with the ends of the blocks and forming expansion joints v between the blocks to permit the cross tie to yied with.

out rupture. 1o

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature. t

` ARTHUR L. ADAMY. 

